AMERICAN  SOCIETY  «f  W/^tt  ENGtNEEB.S, 

t  INSTITUTED    1862. 


.■.,-•;;>  TRA.N3AOTtO]SrS.     ,  - 

Nora.— This  Society  is  not  responsible,  as  a  body,  for  the  facts  and  opinions  advanced  In 

.  -.;  ■  .    ,  ••  any  of  its  publicatlonb.         '^i*^'.'.  .,        -»  ' 


CCLXVII. 

(Vol.  XII.— November,  1883.) 


THE    SHUBENACADIE    CANAL. 


By  E.'h.  Keating,  M.  Am.  Soc.  0.  E. 
Read  November  21st,  1883. 


This  undertaking,  although  it  has  so  far  proved  an  utter  failure  in 
every  lespect,  was  at  its  inception  deemed  of  tlio  utmost  importance  to 
the  trade  and  prosperity  of  the  city  of  Halifax.  Its  promoters  were 
among  the  leading  men  of  the  country;  and  it  is  stated  'hat  they  were 
supported  in  their  sanguine  views  by  the  most  prominent  English  engi- 
neer of  the  past  generation. 

It  is  therefore  thought  that  a  brief  account  of  this  work  may  be  of 
interest,  and  that  it  should  be  a  valuable  lesson  to  engineers  to  be 
extremely  cautious  as  to  how  they  endorse  the  opinions  of  other  men 
before  making  the  fullest  inquiry  into  the  correctness  of  the  data  upon 
which  those  opinions  may  have  been  founded. 

The  project  was  to  open  communication  by  water  across  the  centime  of 
the  province  of  Nova  Scotia,  from  Halifax  harbor  to  the  Basin  of  Mines, 
an  arm  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 


437 

The  chief  objects,  as  set  forth  by  the  company  which  undertook  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  were  : 

1.  To  estabHsh  inland  trade  and  develop  the  resournes  of  the  interior. 

2.  To  enable  Halifax  more  fully  to  participate  in  the  trade  of  the 
ports  and  districts  around  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Fr.ndy  and  its 
branches,  by  avoiding  the  long,  and  sometimes  dangeroas,  sea  voyage 
otherwise  necessary. 

3.  To  afford  means  for  the  expeditious  transport  of  troops  and 
materials  of  war  from  Halifax  to  New  Brunswick  and  Canada.  It  was 
stated  that  this  object  would  not  be  fully  attained  i  at  least  m  far  as 
Canada  was  concerned)  until  the  completion  of  the  Bay  Verte  Ouaal, 
connecting  the  Bay  of  Fundy  with  Northumberland  Strait,  in  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence. 

4.  It  was  also  thought  that  the  canal  would,  in  some  mysterious  wiiy, 
give  an  important  impetus  to  the  West  India  trade . 

The  works  were  commenced  by  the  Shubenaoadie  Canal  Compjtny 
in  1826  with  a  capital  of  *£60  000  (subject  to  be  increased)  and  a  dona- 
tion from  the  local  Legislature  of  £15  000.  In  1829  the  Government 
granted  a  further  concession  to  the  company  in  the  shape  of  an  annuity 
of  £1  500  for  ten  years. 

In  a  printed  statement  of  the  company,  issued  May  20th,  1829,  the 
total  estimated  cost  was  placed  at  £66  750  63.  Od  ,  although  it  sfiems 
strange  that  in  the  same  document  appear  the  estimates  of  the  engineer 
(Mr.  Francis  Hall)  for  the  different  sections,  which,  if  added  cogdther, 
amount  to  £90  818  168.  6d.       '  0       ''  , ;;    ^  :^  2 

The  design  of  the  canal  was  as  follows  (see  Plate): 

Length  of  navigation  from  Halifax  harbor  to  the  mouth  of  tha  Shu- 
benacadie  Biver,  in  the  Basin  of  Mines,  53  miles  1  024  yards. 

Fifteen  locks,  each  87  feet  by  22  feet  6  inches,  capable  of  taking 
vessels  drawing  8  feet  of  water. 

The  artificial  works  to  occupy  only  2  739  yards  of  the  whole  line ;  the 
remainder  to  be  formed  by  lakes  and  the  Shubenacadie  Eiver. 

The  aggregate  lockage  from  the  tide-waters  at  1  Ascending,  95'  10" 
Halifax  harbor  to  medium  high  tides  in  the  Basin  r  Descending,  95'  4" 
of  Mines,  )  Total,  i91'~~2' 

The  navigation  throughout  was  intended   to  accom  nocate  vessels 


•  The  £  referred  to  is  the  late  Nova  Scotia  pound  cun-enoy,  equal  to  ;our-flfth8  of  a 
pound  sterling. 


438 

drawing  8  feet  of  water,  and  it  was  stated  that  the  depth  of  water  might 
be  increased,  at  comparatively  small  outlay,  ao  that  vessels  of  11  feet 
draught  could  pass  through. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  the  consideration  of  "this  under- 
taking, with  all  its  details,"  was  submitted  to  Thomas  Telford,  the 
founder  of  the  Institution  of  Engineers  ;  and  in  the  published  state- 
ment previously  alluded  to,  it  is  asserted  that  "  his  report,  founded 
upon  a  minute  investigation  of  the  whole  subject,  pronounces  his  most 
favorable  opinion  of  the  proceedings  and  objects  of  the  company."  That 
Mr.  Telford  had  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  scheme  would  appear 
from  the  fact  that  his  name  appears  on  the  list  of  shareholders  for  £450. 
He  did  not,  however,  visit  the  country,  and  it  must  be  presumed  that  he 
had  no  means  of  forming  an  opinion  other  than  the  representations  of 
those  deeply  interested  in  the  undertaking — his  employers -whose  cal- 
culations ultimately  proved  falk cious. 

The  probable  annual  revenue,  "on  the  lowest  estimate,"  which  the 
company  considered  would  be  forthcoming  shortly  after  opening  the 
canal  to  traffic,  was  as  follows :  ,  . 

"Fob  Descending  Fbeight.  '     . 

"Timber  and  spars,  plank,  boards,  &c.,  shingles,  laths,  staves, 
wharf  logs,  wood  for  fuel,  tanner's  bark,  &c.,  of  the  value  of 
."20  000,  at  15  per  cent.   £3  000 

"  Gypsum  and  freestone,  building  materials,  lime  and  bricks,  of 

the  value  of  £12  500,  at  10  per  cent 1  250 

"Hay  and  straw,  salted  provisions,  flour  and  meal,  grain,  fruit, 
roots,  cattle,  and  other  agricultural  produce,  of  the  value  of 
£40  000,  at  5  per  cent 2  000 

,   "Fob  Ascending  Freight. 
"Pickled  and  salted  fish.  West  India  produce,  British  and  East 
India  merchandise,  &c.,  of  the  value  of  £74  000,  at  2  J  per 
cent 1  850 

"Amount  of  annual  income £8  100 

"  It  thus  appears  that,  under  a  very  low  rate  on  the  value  of  the  above 
articles  alone,  a  revenue  equal  to  10  per  cent,  on  the  capital  of  the  com- 
pany (£60  000)  may  be  soon  anticipated,  after  making  a  large  allowance 
for  repairs,  additions,  and  the  expense  of  management. 


439 

"  Yet,  in  the  above  estimate,  neither  vessels  or  passengers,  coal,  nor  a 
variety  of  other  articles  are  included.  Slate  alone,  it  is  believed,  will, 
when  the  quarries  are  fully  worked,  be  productive  of  tolls  to  the  extent 
of  between  £2  000  and  £3  000  per  annum." 

The  above  quotations  from  the  company's  statement  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  anticipated  traffic  through  the  canKl, 
which,  however,  was  never  realized  in  the  smallest  degree. 

Up  to  the  close  of  1831,  £72  000  had  been  expended  upo?i  the  works. 
Some  of  the  locks  near  Halifax  had  not  then  been  commenced,  and 
much  expensive  work  remained  to  be  done  elsewhere  on  the  line.  All 
the  available  capital  being  exhausted,  the  works  were  abandoned  for  the 
time  and  rapidly  fell  into  ruin.  They  never  were  completed  on  the 
origical  plans. 

The  canal  was  sold  under  a  foreclosure  of  mortgage,  in  1851,  for  a 
debt  of  £20  000— money  advanced  to  the  company  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment, under  certain  conditions,  which  were  not  fulfilled — and  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Provincial  Government.  After  havj-ng  kept  the 
property  idle  upon  their  hands  for  three  years,  the  Government  sold  it 
in  June,  1854,  to  the  "Inland  Navigation  Company."  In  1856,  this 
company  employed  an  American  engineer,  Mr,  W.  H.  Talcott,  to  report 
upon  a  scheme  for  completing  the  works  on  a  very  much  smaller  scale 
than  was  at  first  proposed.  The  project  now  entered  upon  was  to  make 
a  canal  for  boats,  66  feet  in  length  by  16i  feet  in  width,  drawing  4 
feet  of  water  ;  to  disperse  with  five  continuous  locks  at  Dartmouth,  at 
the  Halifax  end,  and  to  substitute  an  inclined  plane  with  a  lift  of  55  feet, 
and  a  similar  plane  of  33  feet  lift  at  Porto  Bello,  each  to  be  worked  by 
hydraulic  machinery . 

Mr.  Talcott's  estimate  for  completing  the  works  on  this  plan  was 
$69  000.  His  report,  strongly  iu  favor  of  the  scheme,  was  adopted,  and 
the  canal  was  opened  for  traific  on  this  basis  in  1862.  The  cost,  how- 
ever, proved  to  be  about  $200  000. 

This  company,  known  in  1863  and  subsequently  as  "The  Lake 
and  River  Navigation  Company,"  undertook  the  operation  of  the  traffic. 

As  a  commercit.1  enterprise,  the  diminished  canal  proved  a  dreadful 
failure.  Things  were  no  better  under  the  administration  of  the  new  com- 
pany than  they  had  been  with  others.  The  canal  was  not  of  sufficient 
capacity  to  accommodate  coasting  vessels,  or  to  draw  that  trade  which  it 
otherwise  might  have  taken.     The  endeavor  was  made  to  keep  it  open 


440 

until  the  year  1870,  when  the  whole  of  the  works,  lands  and  privileges 
were  sold  to  a  private  iudividual  for  $50  000.  Since  that  date  no  trade 
of  any  kind  has  been  carried  on  through  the  canal. 

The  greatest  receipts  in  tolls  for  any  one  year  never  exceeded  $3  000, 
»nd  in  1870  they  had  fallen  off  to  S900.  The  opening  up  of  railways 
throughout  the  Province  undoubtedly  contributed  to  this  result,  and  to 
the  failure  of  the  scheme. 

This  communication  is  accompanied  with  a  lithographed  plan  and 
plate  profile  of  the  works  (Plate  XXIX). 


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OUtY  .     UlTMOtk;  JIO    '•^TnA 


PLATE    XXIX 

TRANS. AM. SOC. CIV.  ENG'RS 

VOL.XII  NO.  CCLXVII 

KEATING  ON 
SHUBENACAOIE  CANAL. 


>W««BY      F.H^LU.tNO* 


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MAP  and  CLEIVATION  of^^e    SHUBCNACADIE  M 


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NOKty.    UlTMOft.  S'OJ-THANO 


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